Refuting allegation that the questions of JEE 2018 paper were copied from a model paper prepared by a coaching institution in 2016, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday clarified that the questions did not exist that time.

Some media reports stated that 7-8 questions out of the 90 questions of JEE 2018 paper were carried from a model paper prepared by a coaching institution by the name of Narayana Academy in 2016.

“The JEE question papers are prepared in original by over 100 item writers. These item writers are subject experts. They prepare over 1500 items over a period of two months during the year of the exam,” the CBSE said in a statement.

“All these questions are prepared by the item writers in original and they are handwritten. After that, 90 questions are drawn randomly and 8-9 sets are created. Any one set is randomly picked for use in JEE,” the CBSE added.

The board, which conducted the exam on April 8, said the 7-8 questions were prepared in original by 7 different item writers and were handwritten. After this, the moderator made many handwritten changes too. Followed by this, the vetter also made handwritten changes. The final handwritten version was ready only about 2-3 months back, after which it was sent to the confidential printer.

“It is indeed very strange that handwritten changes in all these 7 questions that CBSE has record of, appear exactly in a so-called website claiming to belong to a particular coaching institute and also claiming to be two years old,” the CBSE said.

It may be mentioned here that the Press has also carried the statement of the said coaching institute, stating that the items have been doctored to spoil the image of the said coaching institute.

The CBSE further reiterated that all these 7-8 questions were originally written only about two to three months back and they cannot and could not have figured in any model paper by any coaching institutions two years back.

“There is an atmosphere of falsities and rumour mongering being deliberately perpetuated against a prestigious organisation like CBSE. The CBSE appeals to all not to pay heed to such falsities,” the board said.

The IIT-JEE (Main) 2018 was conducted in 112 cities in India and abroad for around 10.43 lakh aspirants. The offline exam was held in 104 cities across 1,613 centres in the country and in eight centres in as many countries abroad.

The CBSE has been under tremendous pressure and facing flak from students and public after the board question paper leaks were reported earlier. The examinations for the Class X Mathematics and Class XII Economics examinations were held on March 26 and 28, respectively.